Interactive Sound Installation: “Sound Beyond Sound” — Taoxichuan Chuan Shang Xing Exhibition

In the courtyard enclosed by the wooden corridor on the west side of Chuanshangxing, an ancient plane tree stands within a quiet sound field, its branches reaching layer by layer into the fissures of the surrounding architecture. Changes in temperature and humidity are delicately captured by a nearby self-sounding installation, which senses the subtle shifts of human flow, time, and seasons, generating low-volume tonal patterns in real time, like soft, continuous whispers. Ambient sounds, looping from all directions, gently ripple through the air, brushing against the fine hairs of hearing, as if offering a restrained invitation to step into this tree-centered space and explore the sound of all things breathing under different climates.

This work, which almost conceals itself within the natural soundscape, is titled Sound Beyond Sound by the artist Xingyu Li.

“I hope that when people pause here or pass by, they encounter it unintentionally, rather than being guided too directly,” he explains.

When elaborating on the title, Xingyu Li adds: the first “sound” refers to what is within the human audible range, frequencies between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz; the second “sound” points to a broader notion—something inaudible yet perceptible, quietly connected to an unknown world that often goes unnoticed.